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Inside the Land and Outside the Land

Be'er Sheva - lots of Arabs, Russians, and sweaty, old, tiny buildings. Now on the bright side it was less crowded than the center and for desert lovers, it is in the desert. So I won't say that some people can't call it home, but I wouldn't believe the NBN story line about paradise in the desert, as I wouldn't believe any of their story lines.

In general, groups like NBN  project America onto Israel. They give you the impression that in Israel you get an American lifestyle only in the Holy Land. Look at their ads with the smiling beautiful people in front of brand spanking new houses on the beach. The best of all worlds. The good without the bad. NBN is a marketing organization, an ad agency. It's mostly myth.

I am not going to tell you where to live and I hope that nobody tells me where to live. Jewish religious life is not necessarily better in Israel despite all the hype. Sorry to be a bourgeois, decadent capitalist American, but bracha and religious life often go together. If you live in the mud, it's hard to get much accomplished even on a religious level. There's a reason Jews have tended to live in the wealthy empires of the world over the centuries.

Israel is not nearly as religiously vibrant as one is led to believe, or certainly not more than Monsey, or Lakewood, or even Cleveland. It has its place. So does chutza l'aretz. Geulah has not come and we need Jews in Israel and outside of Israel.

But many find a good life here. Good doesn't mean dreamy. It means productive and meanginful.

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